Antique, stolen, and never found
TARDY In last 18 yrs, 11 cases of ancient idol thefts have been registered in state, in only one case idols were recovered
During his visit to the United States in June 2016, the authorities there handed over to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a set of 19 artefacts stolen from India.
The artefacts included two stone sculptures, dating back to the Pratihara period between 7th and 11th century, stolen from a temple ruin at Atru in Baran district of Rajasthan. One of them was a Lakshmi-Vishnu idol and the other a maithuna or a copulating pair. The artefacts had been seized by the US Homeland Security in New York.
While governments, both at Centre and in state, basked in glory of getting the antiquities back home, it raised serious questions on the competency of the agencies that investigate such thefts of idols and antiques.
It was only when the US government issued the list of the artefacts that the authorities in India got to know that the two stolen antiquities from Rajasthan had reached foreign shores.
In the last 18 years, the Rajasthan department of archaeology and museums and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have got registered 11 cases of theft of ancient idols from protected monuments. In only one case, the police could recover the stolen idols.
The police have, however, closed the investigation in most other cases.
Rajasthan has 162 notified centrally protected monuments, while the state archaeology department has declared another 342 monuments as protected.
Highest 10 thefts were reported at monuments protected by the state archaeology department. As per the police, a total of 16 ancient idols have been stolen in the 10 incidents since 2000. The police have till date recovered only three sculptures — stolen in 2013 from the Peeplaj Mata Temple in Jodhpur district. In all the remaining cases, the police could not trace the thief or smuggler. The last such theft was reported on February 4, 2016 when three stone sculptures — the standing figures of Shiva-Parvati, Lakhulish, and Lakulish Shiva — were stolen from the centrally protected ancient ruins of Kalyanpur, in Udaipur district. The sculptures date to 11-12th century. Police investigations are still going on in the case.
Officials say that only 11 cases of idol theft could be filed in last 18 years as they took place at protected monuments. Several monuments and ruins of ancient temples dotting the state are lying unguarded and are prone to such thefts.
An official familiar with the matter said that the state needs 1,026 staff to provide security cover to the protected monuments. However, the state is currently making do with only 764 staff — 113 monument attendants, 583 home guards, and 70 on-contract security personnel.
A proposal for creating 198 new posts of monument attendants is pending with the finance department, the official said.
Deputy director in the department of archaeology and museums, Virendra Kaviya, however, is happy over the fact that no new incidents of antique theft has come to fore in last over two years.
“More security guards are being deployed at the monuments, so new incidents of ancient idols theft have not come to fore,” Kaviya said.
Kaviya said process is on to photograph the ruins in Nadol, Chandrawati, and Kiradu where idols and antiquities are lying in the open. The records are also being digitised, Kaviya said, adding that the digitization work of the government museums has already been completed.
Yashovardhan Sharma,
JODHPUR:
Barmer convener of the Indian National Trust for Art and Heritage (Intach) demanded that a special investigation team should be set up to investigate the unsolved cases of ancient idol thefts. “The police are not in a position to tell where the stolen idols have gone in the last two decades. An example of Atru is in front of us, where two stolen sculptures were exported to the US,” said Sharma. He said that 11th century monuments and sculptures in Barmer district are lying in open in Kiradu.
Ramanath temple, Udaipur
Peeplaj Mata temple, Jodhpur
Kalyanpur, Udaipur
One Sur Sundri idol
3 idols 3 idols May 5, 2000
December 21, 2012
February 11, 2013
February 4, 2016 Not recovered
Case registered in 2016, investigations continue
HIGHEST NUMBER OF 10 THEFTS WERE REPORTED AT MONUMENTS PROTECTED BY STATE ARCHAEOLOGY DEPT
Idols recovered
Investigations on